Peacock death in Odisha: Swab samples sent to Bhopal for possible flu

If peacock death might be the symptom of bird flu, the state administration needs to tight its belt to contain the highly contagious disease. Since Chilika Lake, India’s largest brackish water, is the winter resort of lakhs of migratory birds and adjacent to that area panic looms large over their safety.

Bhubaneswar: Following the mysterious death of over 20 peacocks in the same area in Odisha’s Khurda district jungle, swab samples of carcases have been sent to Bhopal-based National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHAD) to ascertain the root cause of the en masse death of the national bird.

Special teams from the veterinary, forest department and Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) have already conducted a thorough field investigation in Madhupur forest area, where about 25 birds including 20 peacocks were found dead on Tuesday.

A forest official said the swab samples have already been sent to the Bhopal-based Institute to ascertain the death of the birds.

The forest officials had sent the carcases to OUAT for a post-mortem on Tuesday.

Khurda Ranger Dillip Kumar Rout had said that a joint team of Chandaka and Khurda range officials were doing a field investigation in the forest to see if there have any other deaths of other birds or animals inside the forest.

With the forest officials ruling out the poisoning angle as the paddy crop cutting has already started, there is fear of bird flu in the area.

According to locals, about four to five hundred peacocks live in that forest, and this is an unprecedented incident. Many peacocks were seen roaming around which might result in further spread of the disease if there is any contagious one.

If it might be the symptom of bird flu, the state administration needs to tight its belt to contain the highly contagious disease. Since Chilika Lake, India’s largest brackish water, is the winter resort of lakhs of migratory birds and adjacent to that area panic looms large over their safety.